Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by Indigenous landowners who asked for a temporary injunction to prevent a Chinese company from dumping its mine and refinery waste into the Bismarck Sea.
More than 1,000 Indigenous landowners, concerned that the mine's millions of tons of toxic waste could affect the health of the marine ecosystem and the entire marine food chain along the Rai Coast, have appealed their case to the Supreme Court. They sought a temporary injunction to prevent the ocean dumping until the Supreme Court can rule on their case. The temporary injunction has now been rejected, and the Ramu NiCo mine is authorized to begin operating its Deep Sea Tailings Placement system in the Basamuk area on the Rai Coast.
Company representatives said its Ramu mine would generate five million tons of tailings annually.
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